June 4, 2013 / Eric Schudiske /

Projekt 2013: The Mega-Event that Fought the Rain and Won

A group of geocachers attending the Mega-Event with a well-traveled banner (Eric is the third from the right) — A group of geocachers attending the Mega-Event with a well-traveled banner (I’m third from the right, green coat, goofy smile)

The rains fell for three straight days. The rivers rose. Roads were overrun with flood waters. And yet, more than 1300 geocachers from throughout Europe (and one geocacher from Geocaching HQ in Seattle—me) chose this water-logged weekend to visit a small Austrian community.

If you’ve never heard of geocaching you might wonder why not stay home. The couch is dry, it’s warm, the TV works just fine. The series Game of Thrones is really heating up. However, if you’re a geocacher, you’re probably thinking, “well, what’s a little rain?”

The geocaching Mega-Event, Projekt 2013, delivered a geocacher’s dream line-up. Get this: more than 600 geocaches were published throughout the day of the Mega-Event. That’s more than 600 First-to-Finds hiding in fields, and even one scuba geocache waiting patiently at the bottom of a lake. The mandate for all the geocaches was one word: quality. Organizers spent months lining up the geocache hiders and mixing together just the right chemistry of events for people to enjoy, when not searching for the fresh geocaches.

Want to show off your Trackable before the Mega-Event at a CacheMobile Event? Yeah, there’s that. Itching to learn how to safely climb to find your next geocache? It’s on the agenda. How about a concert for hundreds to cap off the Mega-Event? Okay, you get the idea. But one more—how about hearing the latest news from Geocaching HQ and have a nice little question and answer? Yep, I led that discussion.

The organizational team from The Upper Austrian Geocaching Society planned it all. Before the event, the mayor of the Austrian community had never heard of geocaching. After 1000+ geocachers poured into his town, he’s now one of geocaching’s biggest fans. Especially after the Mega-Event when hundreds of geocachers cleaned up during (a rainy) CITO Event. But it’s the type of people who geocache who made the event. Take one of the organizers, for example.

His name is Mattias, or rightly known by his geocaching name as ma ma. The night before the event, he gets a call. A geocacher he didn’t know was stuck in the mud. Their car wouldn’t move. Five minutes later, we’re there and pulling the car free. And here’s a little detail you shouldn’t know: it was his birthday. Whatever you do, do not go to his profile, send him a message and wish him a happy birthday. And whatever you do, do not click this link and wish him a happy birthday. (Okay, click the link.)

If you’ve never been geocaching in Austria, consider this Mega-Event an invitation. The FTF’s won’t last forever. If you’re from outside Austria here’s what you should know: there are more Multi-Caches and Puzzle Caches in Austria than Traditional geocaches. A city next door to the event, Wels, is known as The Riddle Castle because of all the Puzzle Caches. Get ready to crack some geocaching puzzles. The Mayor of Wels would appreciate your visit, and if your car gets stuck, you know who to call.

Check out all the pictures below of the event. And tell us in comments, what’s you favorite part of a Mega-Event or what would be on your list?

Upper Austrian Geocaching Society thanking local geocaching community reviewer, Tafari. (They really do not glow in the dark)

The Log Wall could only be seen in black light

"I love geocaching because... MEGA" — “I love geocaching because… MEGA”

June 3, 2013 / Derek H /

Geocaching 2 by 2 – Power your Relationships with Geocaching

Geocaching is Best When Shared

You’re part of a worldwide community of over 6 million geocachers that grows one friend at a time. Last week, a visitor to Geocaching HQ from Germany told us something that many geocachers believe, “The most beautiful caches we’ve found were other geocachers.” It’s true. The adventure of geocaching is often found in the journey with others. The most public examples of camaraderie in the geocaching community are events with over 500 attendees, aka Mega-Events. You can join your geocaching friends at more than 25 Mega-Events around the world this year.

There are also many other ways to connect to the geocaching community and to bring a friend along for the adventure. On the Geocaching.com homepage, click on the “Community” tab. This is where you’ll find resources to connect with other geocachers through Geocaching Events, local geocaching organizations and the Geocaching Blog. We even make it easy to Tell a Friend about geocaching.

And don’t forget to share your geocaching adventures and meet new friends on the official Geocaching Facebook page.

Geocaching Tech Update

Upgrade now to the newest version of the Geocaching iPhone App. This version puts the buttons for navigating to geocaches and posting logs, the two most-used actions, front and center. Plus, there’s much more. Check out all the other upgrades: http://bit.ly/GeocachingiPhoneApp

Paul Bunyan GeoTour

Paul Buynan GeoTour

Minnesota’s Paul Bunyan State Trail, named after the legendary logger, is arguably the state’s favorite paved trail for hiking, biking, inline skating and snowmobiling. With the addition of a new GeoTour, it is now destined to become a geocaching mecca.

Minnesota’s Paul Bunyan GeoTour has a total of 100 geocaches. Additionally, members of the NorthStar Geoseekers Club have placed nearly 1,000 geocaches along the path, making it an amazing power trail.

We encourage geocachers to complete this GeoTour during the spring, summer or fall seasons. Due to the length of the trail and the abundance of activities to enjoy in the trail towns, plan to spend several days exploring the area. Most of the geocaches are accessible by bike, so don’t forget your bicycle. Information regarding bike rental, shuttles and other services can be found here.

Whether you are new to the sport or an experienced geocacher, the opportunity to explore Minnesota and earn a few smileys along the trail is as legendary as Paul Bunyan himself.

June 1, 2013 / Eric Schudiske /

Geocacher of the Month Nominees for May 2013 – Add Your Comments

The nominees for the May Geocacher of the Month deliver geocaches that wow geocachers on three continents. From Canada to Europe to Australia they deliver creative geocaches based on Snow White, Reindeer and some that even require batteries. Each geocacher named below is already a winner. They will receive a prize package from Geocaching HQ. A panel of folks from Geocaching HQ will then use your comments to help guide the decision of which geocacher is awarded the Geocacher of the Month honor.

Each Featured Geocacher of the Month will receive an exclusive special edition Featured Geocacher of the Month Geocoin, hat and profile icon. They’ll also get a certificate acknowledging their contributions, signed by two of the founders of Geocaching.

MulderNScully - April 2013 Geocacher of the Month — MulderNScully – April 2013 Geocachers of the Month

In April, MulderNScully were named the Featured Geocachers of the Month. MulderNScully have been geocaching since 2008. They’re known for challenging geocachers with inventive Puzzle Geocaches. One geocacher who commented about MulderNScully wrote, “They have been mentors to many new cachers and are always willing to give a helping hand to a fellow cacher and some of my most memorable caching adventures are because of them. They aren’t about the numbers, they are about the places geocaching takes us to.”

Now it’s your turn to help us select the next Featured Geocacher of the Month. Write a supportive comment at the bottom of this blog for the geocacher you feel should be awarded the title.

Here are your nominees for the May Featured Geocacher of the Month. Some testimonials have been edited for length.

Pele53

Göran “McBack” Back nominated Esko Aspholm alias “Pele53.” Pele53 has won several awards for best geocaches, and hosted regular Event Caches throughout 2012 and into 2013. McBack says one series in Finland demonstrates Pele53’s geocaching ingenuity. McBack says, “He has made many caches with a lot of work behind them. He had 4 nightcaches, with a lot of work behind, with the theme Snowwhite and the seven dwarfs.

The first of them is the house where they live, where Sleepy and Snowwhite is, the second was The hunters cabin, the third The princes castle and the last was the mine where the rest of the dwarfs where. The whole trail was tracked by “diamonds” in the forest, just in case Snowwhite had to find them. The first of these actually won the Ostrobothnian best other cache 2011.

One of the latest mystery “Eihän tässä ole mitään järkeä!” (translated like “After all, this makes no sense!”) that was voted the best cache of 2012 in Finland. This has also been mentioned in magazines and even the local radio station. It needs something special to be opened, that many of us has with us when geocaching. But with about 20 geocachers at site for the First to Find hunt, they needed to call help to get it opened. =D So many of his caches are made with lot of work, and he still have many ideas to new caches.”

OHMIC

Josh Bernier (username Stonagal) nominates OHMIC. He says, “With close to 15,000 finds, Jacques, OHMIC has found more geocaches than any other geocacher in the Canadian province of Manitoba. He has more than 130 published caches, over six cache types. But the biggest reason I think he should be the Geocacher of the Month is because of the great work he has done in providing quality events for local geocachers. OHMIC is an interpreter at the Oak Hammock Marsh. For the past seven years, he has hosted an event in May called “Cache the Marsh“. Geocachers split into teams and explore the Interpretive Centre’s numerous exhibits to get clues as to the locations of several caches. It’s a mad race for some new FTFs, and along the way cachers learn about wetlands ecosystems and wildlife. It’s a great family-friendly competitive event that ends with a barbecue. This was the seventh year OHMIC has planned and hosted the event, and it lived up to the great things I had heard other cachers say about it. OHMIC is also a Platinum-level Earthcache Master, and the owner of a local favourite series of caches named for Santa’s reindeer.”

roymerc

Peter Dose, TeamDose nominated, roymerc. He says, “Roymerc may be the best “cache placer” in Western Australia. We have travelled from the far North down to the deep South of WA, and when we came across Roy’s cache’s in the Denmark area, we knew we had found something special. He puts an exceptional amount of time and effort into the design and creation of these cache masterpieces – and as a result has attracted a large number of favourite points. There is not one of Roy’s active caches which do not have at least 1 favourite point – fairly unique we would think in the caching world.

Each cache is unique and special in its own way. Some of the caches involve electricity, other of the caches involve complex machinery. Roy’s “Bring Your Own Battery” series is also unique, and has inspired copies further afield in places like Perth.

Denmark is a very beautiful part of Australia, and with Roy living there it is also extra special for all geocachers. We think roymerc is awesome, and so do many other cachers judging by the number of favourite points he has accumulated in such a remote part of the world! For these reasons, we believe he deserves to be recognised as a cacher of the month!”

Comment below to tell us who you think should be the May Featured Geocacher of the Month. We will be accepting comments through June, 17.

If your nominee wasn’t recognized here, please submit your nominations again next month. We’re always looking for the next Geocacher of the Month. To nominate a geocacher, send an email to geocacherofthemonth@geocaching.com and include the following information:

Your name, the name of your nominee, their username
A picture of the nominee
Description (200 or more words) explaining why he or she deserves to be the Featured Geocacher of the Month

Please inform your nominee that you have submitted them for the award. Nominations for the next Featured Geocacher of the Month should be received by June 14. Once Geocaching HQ has received the nominations, we will choose the top candidates and post them on the blog. You will then get a chance to champion your favorite. Our goal is to involve the entire geocaching community in this process so that we might learn from each other.

May 29, 2013 / Derek H /

One geocache to rule them all — Helms Klamm (GC2WGRR) — Geocache of the Week

When one ring threatened to destroy the realm, only one creature could be trusted to venture into the unknown and return it to the fiery depths of Mount Doom—a geocacher. Or at least, that’s how this version of the story goes. Create your fellowship and follow the hobbit footprints to this week’s Geocache of the Week: Helms Klamm (GC2WGRR).

Defend the castle! Photo by geocacher Doncacheo

Unlike the Lord of the Rings trilogy, this adventure takes place in Germany, not Middle Earth. And unlike Mordor, one can simply walk to this difficulty 1, terrain 2 geocache. The geocache creator, Caturus, modified the famous J.R.R. Tolkien storyline to fit in with a geocaching adventure. As you make your way to ground zero, feel free to take on the roles of Frodo, Sam, Legolas, Aragorn, Gimli, Boromir, or my personal favorite, Gandalf. While many geocaches are all about the journey, this geocache truly shines at the destination.

A brave geocacher earning her smiley. Photo by geocacher vivilewi

When you arrive at this geocache, don’t expect another ammo can or bison tube. You’ll be at the doorstep to a castle, complete with characters from the Lord of the Rings story (watch out for Gollum!). The castle has been found over 2,300 times and geocachers have awarded this creative geocache over 900 favorite points. The positive logs continue to roll in; geocacher Schatzfinder said, (translated from German) “Far and wide no orcs, no Nazgul or Ringwraiths. The fortress is obviously protected by magical powers that defy the dark forces of wild boars, mice and other animals. Well worth seeing!”

You might have to look through some camouflage to find this geocache. Photo by geocacher orina66.

Geocacher Mario112 said, (translated from German) “WOW. This is something you won’t find every day. Due to all of the favorite points, we already expected something extraordinary. Our expectations were surpassed when we caught sight of Helm’s Klamm after a march through the wintry woods. Thank you for this well-designed cache, this is of course a favorite point!”

Seeing great geocache containers with amazing stories always leaves me inspired to create a spectacular geocache. What about you? If your next, or first, geocache hide will have a theme or story, what will it be? Tell us in the comments.

Continue to explore some of the most engaging geocaches around the globe. Check out all the Geocaches of the Week on the Geocaching blog or view the Bookmark List on Geocaching.com.

If you would like to nominate a Geocache of the Week, send an email with your name, comments, the name of the geocache, and the GC code to pr@geocaching.com.

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